“There are no bad days in the Redwoods” as the station ranger replied back to a simple “how are you” at the state park.
Maria laughed out loud.
Culturally, being raised in an Asian household in America meant two things
That’s all I knew for the longest time.
Maria (my better half) is Italian, born and raised in the most northern region of Italy (South Tyrol) now ever so popular for the Dolomite mountain ranges.
To her and the European culture she grew up in, its extremely common within every day life interactions/conversations to often leave a little more room for expressing frustration, observations, and that to our American brainwashing, sounds complainy.
Not necessarily because something is wrong, but because sharing those little annoyances is often part of connecting with friends/strangers.
As Maria once stated so eloquently
“i’ve been swimming in american culture since meeting you 5 years ago” overhyped optimism and all.
Maria went back to visit family in Italy earlier this year, and when she returned, we visited a friend on her second day back in California.
Before Maria could even fully settle into a little post-flight complaining session, our friend simply said:
“Well, you’re here now.”
And just like that, Maria was reminded “Oh.. I’m back in America”
Here are some images from our hike in Pomo Canyon Trail
